Lessons Catharsis missing scene
by MoniHoag
Summary: School begins.


**Title: Lessons ("Catharsis" missing scene)**

**Categories**: General, Family

**Disclaimer:** Everything related to Transformers belongs to Hasbro. This story is for fun only.

**Rating:** T

**Summary**: School begins.

**Missing scene placement:** This would take place in middle of Chapter Three, directly following the missing scene "Stars"

_**Thank you to Graycalls for Beta work, advice, friendship, and hand-holding.**_

*****

Sam had never liked mornings; they came far too early for his liking. But, as he reluctantly admitted that he was, in fact, awake, he noticed something was different even before he opened his eyes. Rolling around, he realized that the bed was huge. What had happened to his small bed at home? Why wasn't Dad pounding on the door, telling him to get up already? And why hadn't a guard pounded on the door telling him to get up because Sector Seven wanted to interrogate him again….

Sam awoke abruptly with a gasp, and his eyes opened wide as he sat up and looked around.

A strange room. No windows. He was a prisoner?

No, not anymore.

"Sam?" A voice spoke softly, concerned, and Sam turned to look at the yellow Autobot sitting a few feet from his bed.

Sam fell back on the bed, taking a deep breath to calm himself. It took a few moments before he could speak. "I'm ok, Bee" he said. "Just disorientated, or something. Wasn't sure where I was for a second." He closed his eyes for a second, trying to get the universe back in order and remember all that had occurred recently. He was safe. No more Sector Seven. Autobots and Decepticons. His parents were dead.

Bee made a soft sound of understanding, mixed with concern. He had been monitoring Sam's vitals of course, and had been alarmed at the spike in the heart rate as Sam awoke. Sam had reacted similarly the past two mornings since his rescue from Sector Seven, and Ratchet had advised the guardian to expect the boy to be alarmed and confused upon awakening for sometime. Only time and reassurance would ease this fear.

Sam managed to untangle himself from the blankets, and Bee increased the light in the room, accessing the computer's controls internally. He made a mental note to make sure that there was some dim light in the room at all times that would increase automatically when Sam woke. Sam had been uncomfortable last night in a room with no windows, since it reminded him of the underground prison Sector Seven had held him in for 11 days. Security would not allow windows to be installed, but lights could be set to ensure that Sam was never in the dark. Human's needed light, Bee knew, especially natural light. Being outdoors as much as possible was on Sam's agenda for each day.

Sam visited the bathroom, showered, and managed to wake up completely. Drying off, he remembered that the closets for his clothes were outside the bathroom, and he hadn't brought in a robe or sweats or anything. He wrapped a dry towel around himself and cautiously opened the door. Bee was still sitting, now joined by Mojo who was awake and trotted over to greet his boy before heading out for his morning exploring. A tiny doggie dog had been installed for Mojo to have access to and from Sam and Bee's room, and the dog had already leaned to take advantage of his freedom. Feeling rather silly, Sam went as quickly as he could to the closets and pulled out some clothes and then returned to the bathroom to dress. He swore he saw a look of amusement on Bee's face when he came out again, and scowled.

"Don't start," he warned. Sam had no intention of streaking in front of Bee, or anyone else for that matter. He still was a bit unnerved about apparently being undressed by Bee and Ratchet his first night at the base.

Bee managed a look of innocence, which was rather impressive, given his metal face, but he stayed silent.

After Sam dressed, Bumblebee took him over to the human mess hall for breakfast. Sam was a bit nervous about being separated by his guardian, but, to his relief, Epps was waiting for them, and the Sergeant cheerfully took Sam through the dining facility, introducing him to a few more of Lennox's team that Sam had only briefly met before. The team formed a very obvious protective guard around the teen, and Sam was grateful. He had gotten more than a few strange looks from various government officials, curious at seeing a teenager at a new, top secret base, but Epps and the others ensured that no one bothered Sam.

After breakfast, Bee led Sam over to one of the new Autobot workplaces, and introduced him to a newly arrived inventor called Wheeljack. Sam's head was spinning by the time the chatty little Autobot had finished his greeting, and he totally lost track of the conversation as Wheeljack tended to veer from one topic to another without missing a beat. Fortunately, Bumblebee managed to keep the little 'Bot on track long enough to retrieve the items they had come for, and then they left the inventor to his gleeful continuations on the projects he had going.

"Is he always that wild?" Sam asked, still confused.

"Always," Bee confirmed. "And by the way, do not ever agree to help him with any of his projects, understand?"

Sam was about to ask why, when there was a muffled explosion from the building they had just left. Some windows blew out, although most of the building held.

"That is why," Bumblebee stated, sighing. Sam gulped, lesson learned, and promised.

The two found a shady spot by a building and settled down. Bumblebee showed Sam the special tiny computer they had picked up from Wheeljack, and explained that it had been modified so it was linked to the Autobot internal frequency. Wheeljack had even added enhanced voice capabilities so Sam could use it to verbally speak to any Autobot at any time.

Sam was as gleeful as a kid with a new toy, learning the different commands and capabilities from Bumblebee. It was like a hyped up phone, I-pod, computer and internet all in one totally cool package. . "You should have this with you at all times," Bee explained. "An Autobot will always with be with you, and can of course relay any messages, but the computer will also list your schedule for each day and you can check it."

"Schedule?" Sam frowned, accessing that program. He frowned as it began to scroll across the screen. "Hey, this is worse than my Dad's day planner!"

"Indeed," Bee agreed, leaning slightly forward to gesture to the display. "We all have daily assignments and schedules. This will list your schedule, especially your educational times."

Sam looked closer, and his eyebrows rose. "Ratchet? I have lessons with Ratchet today?"

"Most likely everyday," Bee confirmed. "He is in charge of your overall educational plan. I imagine that today he will lay out an advanced syllabus for you to follow."

Sam was still frowning. "Optimus told me that I would have tutors, but I never thought they would be Autobots." Then he saw sometime on the schedule that made him really sit up. "_Playtime_?" he nearly squeaked in indignation. "Honest to God there is _playtime_ on my schedule?"

Bee frowned, wondering what could possibly be wrong. "Yes, of course. No one expects you to have nothing but duties and assignments all day."

"Yeah, but call it free time, or break time, or something. Not playtime!" Sam was nearly sputtering in righteous offense.

Bumblebee accessed the internet, scanning for definitions of the word playtime. After a second, he inclined his head. "Ah, usually associated with young children," he said in understanding and amusement.

"No kidding, "Sam fumed. "This makes it sound like I'm five years old and someone is going to take me to play on the swings at the park." A dreadful thought occurred to him. "Bee, please tell me only the Autobots have access to this."

"Yes, only us."

"Thank God." For a second, Sam had had visions of Epps and the team reading 'Samuel's schedule for today' and seeing playtime on it. He would never live that down. It was going to be hard enough if any of the Autobots figured it out. He began to jab at the tiny screen, trying to figure out how to delete the offending word. "How do I get this changed?"

"Ratchet programs your schedule with input from Optimus," Bee answered. "Contact him now; this is a good practice of your learning how to use the communications program."

"Oh, I'm going to communicate with him, all right," Sam muttered, and went to work.

Three hours later, a sufficiently appeased Sam met with Ratchet in the new Medical area for the Autobots. The offending word had been purged from the system, and Ratchet actually listened without interruption for a whole minute, letting Sam complain. Once the teen had cooled off, the medic simply inclined his head.

"Are you ready to begin now that your snit is over?"

"Snit?" Sam glared at him.

"An appropriate word for a teenage temper tantrum, I believe. Primus forbid that I use a term for a child," Ratchet answered, but there was a hint of amusement in his voice that prevented Sam from getting angry all over again. Sam was starting to pick up on the Autobot body language, and he was pretty sure Ratchet was just grumbling a little, and wasn't really accusing Sam of a 'snit'. In his own narrow way, Ratchet was apologizing for the vocabulary misunderstanding. "Now, shall we start with a review?" He extended a hand, and Sam grudgingly climbed in and was lifted up onto a newly installed Autobot sized table. Sam took out his computer and found the section where his lessons were listed.

"This looks just like school," he whined a little, looking over his class schedule. "Math, Science, Literature, World History, Government….Hey, wait a minute. Cybertron history?"

"Of course," Ratchet said, beginning to work on some of his tools. "You should know our history as well."

"Yeah, well, ok, but Cybertronian literature? You have some stuff translated already?"

"A few pieces, yes. Things that a youngling of your approximate age would have read."

Sam pondered that for a moment. "Can I learn some of the written language?"

"Indeed," Ratchet agreed, "although it will not be easy. Bumblebee will actually be a good tutor for you in that area, and he will be reading the same assignments as yourself. Now, if you are paying attention, your first assignment is posted. We have four hours of study today, and I suggest that you begin." A couple of gigantic pillows were dropped beside Sam and a bottle of water placed nearby. "Make yourself comfortable." Sam grumbled, but did as told and went to work.

To Sam's surprise, the time passed quite quickly. He easily picked up on how to find the scheduled assignments and Ratchet was there to quiz him as he finished each section. Nothing was very difficult; it was easy, in fact. Sam suspected that Ratchet was getting a gauge of where Sam was, academically speaking, and did his best. He was allowed a couple of breaks, and mostly flopped on the bed pillow during study. It actually felt very good to have to concentrate on something that kept him occupied and he could forget about the loss of his parents and everything that had happened.

When the study period was over, Ratchet seemed to grudgingly accept that Sam wasn't a complete idiot. "No offense to your past instructors, but I am very pleasantly surprised," the medic admitted. He looked thoughtful for a moment, then Sam heard a soft beep from the computer.

"Hey!" he protested as a new assignment popped up.

"Homework," Ratchet said in a tone that booked no argument. "You will have assigned reading every night, and as your schedule says, be prepared to discuss chapters 1 - 3 tomorrow."

Sam scowled a bit. "Did you talk to Mrs. Lowe? I thought no one could assign more homework than her."

Ratchet seemed to smirk with confidence. "She has met her match."

Sam grumbled, but accepted the hand that lowered him back to the ground. Bumblebee was waiting for him, and the two dutifully spent the newly named "free time" exploring the remainder of the base.

It was now his fourth day on the base, and Sam was starting to find his way around. Areas had already been designated for Humans and Autobots, and Sam was glad he and Bee stayed mostly in the Autobot area. A few soldiers gave Sam friendly waves as they passed, and he recognized them as some of Lennox's men. But others gave him very uncomfortable looks, and one older man, not in uniform so Sam guessed he was some sort of government official, actually yelled when he spotted the teen and demanded that he explain who he was and what he was doing. Sam had no desire to oblige him, having had his fill of guys in dark suits, and basically climbed up Bumblebee's leg to safety, taking refuge on Bee's shoulder. His guardian quickly stomped away, leaving behind a very frustrated and furious government employee.

Sam was still shaking when Optimus appeared as if from nowhere. The Prime did not appear happy as he glared at the building where the older human had disappeared into. "Who was that?" Sam asked, nervously peering out from the metal plates around Bee's head.

Optimus seemed to sigh. "Since humans lack instantaneous internal communication, it is likely that some are still unaware of your status with us, Samuel. I will speak to Captain Lennox and the general and ensure that all humans are reminded to not disturb you. Bumblebee or another Autobot will be with you at all times."

Bee was actually shifting his weight like a prize fighter, acting as if he wanted to go over to the offending building and punch it, and Sam patted the armor. "Down boy," he murmured. Bee snorted, but calmed.

Sam sighed, and looked up at the alien leader. "Sorry I freaked out," he apologized, knowing that Bee would not have let any harm come to him. He was more jittery than he had realized around anyone who might be from Sector Seven or even the government, for that matter. Only Lennox's team had his approval right now.

"There is no need to apologize, Sam," Optimus said. He cast another look at the building, a definite frown on his metal face. "Bumblebee will not let any harm come to you."

_*Yeah, yeah, yeah* _sang from Bee's speakers, and Sam had to grin.

"How did your studies with Ratchet go today?" Optimus inquired as the 'Bots headed back toward the main Autobot area.

"Pretty good," Sam admitted, "but I might have to argue over the homework, I think." Sam had glanced at the assigned reading and was already confused. "Three chapters of Cybertronian history seems pretty harsh on the first day."

_*I'll be there for you*_ Bee offered.

"You already studied that," Sam argued, giving Bee a mild punch on the shoulder. "Easy for you to say."

Optimus made a sound like a cough, now looking a bit amused. "And how was your _free_ time?"

The emphasis on the word made Sam give the Prime a dirty look, and the teen reflected it was fortunate that none of the 'Bots were mind readers or he would be washing his mouth out with soap.

THE END


End file.
